By Harley Golder, Northwest Chapter
The Northwest Chapter of the Back Country Horsemen of B.C., had the opportunity to host 22 students from Heartwood School from May 18 to 26, 2023.
Located in Smithers in the Bulkley Valley, the school functions primarily as a homeschooling program with two days a week for hands-on outdoor activities.
Helene Flury, a Heartwood Teacher, requested a horse care and riding clinic for a group of middle school students. Some of our BCHBC members had previous experience with these kids through an archery training program so our chapter agreed to host the event at our Coalmine Camp facility. Although there seemed to be some initial confusion about insurance coverage on the part of the BCHBC executive, a call to Capri insurance showed that we were fully covered by our existing policy.
The students were divided into two groups of 11. One of the groups would come on Wednesday, the other on Thursday, for two consecutive weeks so that each student would participate in two sessions with the horses.
We decided that the instructor/student ratio should be one to one. It would be difficult to assemble 11 instructors at one time, but we thought five or six would be possible. This would enable us to work with half of the group, take a short break, then work with the other half. When kids were not with the horses, we arranged for other activities around the camp.
The youths ranged in experience from owning their own horse, to never having seen a horse. That gave us some latitude in matching horses to rider experience (very gentle horses for those with no experience or little confidence).
Student being introduced to her horse.
The program we decided on basically follows the BCHBC Education Program, Level I and includes hands on tack care, horse care, saddling, leading, and riding under the tutelage of our experienced members. Students would learn safety around horses; how to brush, lead and cleaning the horses’ hooves. They would be taught the proper procedure to saddle a horse and the safest way to mount.
On the first day, the students arrived in several vans. After a quick orientation of the facilities, we covered the “classroom” part of the program including basic safety, philosophy of horse use, and a bit of history. The students were then matched with appropriate horses and instructors.
After 30-minutes of slowly working through the “groundwork”, the students were taught the mounting process, and all were able to learn the basics of controlling the horses. The timing was about right. The students dismounted and prepared the horse for the next student before any frustration could set in, and while enthusiasm was still high. The same process was followed for the 2nd group, and for the next day’s groups.
Volunteer instructor with student
On the second day’s session, each student reviewed all the information from the first day but with the kids doing most of the work. The preparation went much faster, so everyone was able to enjoy a longer time in the saddle. For many, a 10-minute “trail ride” down the camp driveway and back was the culmination of the experience.
The Coalmine Camp facility worked well. The large arena provided ample space for everyone to have their own training station.
Advanced student taking on a challenge.
Some easy obstacles in the skills development area provided enough challenge for the more advanced students and everyone involved had a fine, fun, time and look forward to repeating the adventure.
Safely cleaning his horse’s feet.
Our ability to host this event was based solely on the generosity of our members with their time and the use of their horses. We wish to thank all the instructors for a successful event.
Visit our website to learn about our Trail Rider Education Program, Leave No Trace, and more.
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